Baby Animals That Will Make Your Day 100% Cuter

We can all agree on one thing. Baby animals are the cutest thing in the world. Their early lives are filled with curiosity, funny accidents and naps, just like human babies. Well, maybe furrier. In this article we bring you some of the cutest baby animals out there. Continue reading and you’ll feel happier instantly.

Donkey

Little baby donkeys are called foals, and when they come to this world they can weigh between 8 to 14 kg, which classifies them as pretty big babies in the animal kingdom. Just 30 minutes after they are born, they can stand on their own in order to drink their mom’s milk.

Little donkeys are really playful, intelligent and friendly. It’s a common misconception that they are stubborn. They are actually really cautious, and if they find that something is not that safe for them, well, they will refuse to do it.

Cat

kittens can sleep for more than 18 hours a day as they use their sleep to grow and conserve energy. That explains their playfulness when awake. They need 2 to 3 weeks in order to be able to see and hear properly, and then the fun begins. Their favorite toys are boxes and bags, and if they can fit their heads somewhere, be sure that the rest of the body will follow.

Hippo

One of the heaviest babies in the animal kingdom has to be the baby hippo. When a calf is born it can weight up to 50kg. Hippos spend most of their time inside water, so it’s interesting to learn that when the calves dive in, they close their nose and ears to block out water, just like humans do.

Penguin

Little penguin chicks will need 1 to 3 days to break out of their shell, and they’ll come out hungry. The parents need to have food ready. The little fellas will soon discover that despite the fact that they have wings, they can’t fly, but boy, can they swim – these fast swimmers can swim up to 30km per hour.

Baby penguins will quickly learn that they can drink salt water because they have a gland in their body that acts as a filter.

Alpaca

Baby alpacas or crias can be pretty big babies as well. When crias are born they weigh between 8 to 9 kg, and, like baby donkeys, they will be up on their legs in 30 minutes in order to eat. Their cuteness is overwhelming, but they have their silky and luxurious fur to thank for that.

Fan fact: alpacas love to hum when they are curious, content, worried, fearful, cautious and bored, so if you hear an alpaca hum, good luck with figuring out why.

Otter

Otter babies, also known as pups, weigh only 128 grams when they are born. Some breeds are bigger, so their pups can be up to 2.3 kg at the time of birth.

For almost a month, little pup’s eyes will stay sealed, and they will start to swim only when they turn 2 months old. They will stay with their parents for almost a year, after which they will go to find a mate and build their own family.

Giraffe

Since the mother is a ‘double-decker’, its calf comes to this world in a ‘free fall’ – since mama giraffe is so tall, and gives birth standing, the baby falls from 1.5m height. Like their moms, these little fellas are not so little even when they are born. They are around 1.8m tall and can weigh from 45 to 68kg.

Highland Cattle

In most cases, the little calf will be its parents only calf and will stay a calf until its 2nd birthday. These beautiful creatures are known for their cute fringes called ‘dossan’ which can grow up to 33cm. Their hair is used in the making of luxurious rugs.

Deer

The fawn’s size depends on how long mama deer carries her little baby in her womb. Longer the time, bigger the baby. As soon as fawns are born they have to get up on their tiny legs in order to practice running away from predators.

While still babies, fawns have white spots on their bodies, which helps them camouflage themselves in the forest. That is why mother deer hides them in bushes so she can check on them. Predators also stay away because fawns don’t have any scent.

Sloth

Baby sloths are born on trees, which is not surprising, knowing that adult sloths rarely come down from trees. Baby sloths are not in a hurry to leave their mother. They will ride around clinging to their mother’s belly for a few weeks after birth. After that, they will live a life without a hurry.

Panda

Little panda cubs are only 15 cm when they’re born. These pink little babies will be blind for 6-8 weeks after birth and will stay with their mom for around 18 months. They will then go to live their own lives because pandas are solitary animals. We guess when you spend 12 hours a day eating, you don’t really have time to socialize.

Stingrays

Only about three inches long (without the tail) when they’re born, these cute little creatures, with their pink smiling looking faces, can do the ‘stingray dance’ for you. What they actually do is wiggling their “feet” (pelvic fins) which will make the impression of a baby dance.

Stingrays don’t have a single bone in their body. To protect themselves, they use venomous spines, or barbs, in their tails, so you better not step on them. On the other hand, they are so friendly, they have the character of a puppy.

Octopus

These little fellas come to life as larvae, and they drift around the ocean in plankton clouds, eating other larvae with the risk of being eaten themselves. When they grow up, they can be easily bored – they need colors, distractions in the form of corals and rocks, and fun. If they are bored, they can become stressed and eat their own appendages.

An octopus can easily open a childproof pill bottle in order to see if food is hiding inside.

Duck

Although ducklings get straight onto water after they have hatched, mother duck will provide waterproof covering beforehand as waterproof feathers are only grown later in life.

Kangaroo

When baby kangaroos, or joeys, are born, they are very premature and can be small as a grain of rice. These little creatures are so small that as soon as they are born, mom will guide them to the pouch, where they will stay between 120 and 450 days, depend on the time they need to be fully mature. Females mature faster than males, so they can be out and about a year after birth.

Owl

Most owls have siblings as their mom lays eggs at different times so that all baby owls, or owlets, have bigger chances of survival.

However, the young ones are in danger to be eaten by their older siblings if there isn’t enough food around.

If they survive, they will grow up to have some spectacular abilities such as turning their necks 135 degrees in each direction, and flying without making a noise.

Red Panda

Little panda cubs are usually blind and deaf until they turn 2-3 weeks old. Before their birth, mama makes a birthing den with grass, leaves, twigs and moss. After birth, these little cubs will live in this comfortable ‘baby crib’ for 3 months.

These little vegetarians will be fully grown in 18 months, but still, they would be pretty small even as adults. That is why they have a long red tail – to make them look bigger (but it’s also used for balance).

Dolphin

Little dolphin calves come to this world tale first, head last. Calves can weigh around 10kg and be about 1 meter long, and they will stay by their moms for a long time. Mother dolphin will breastfeed for 2 or even 3 years.

Calves, like adults, are pretty playful and caring creatures. They will take care of sick or old members of their group (or pod).

Pig

Only 1.1 kg when they are born, piglets will double their weight in only 1 week. When a piglet is 2 weeks old, it will already be able to recognize his mother’s voice. Sadly for this little fella, by that time, mother pig will already refuse to nurse him.

Pigs love to snuggle with other pigs. They love mud baths that help them cool off, and when they are happily snuggled after a good mud bath, they will fall asleep and dream.

Elephant

Having the biggest parents on the planet only means that you would probably be the biggest baby as well. And the little baby elephant is not little at all. When they’re born, these cute creatures can weigh up to 90kg, but despite that fact, the whole herd will protect the little ones for a long time, since lions find them very tasty.

The caring mothers will eventually show them how to become strong and happy elephants but for 10 years the babies drink their mother’s full-fat milk.

At their first days, baby elephants don’t really know what to do with their long noses, or trunks, so they keep tripping on them or step on them.

Pacific Parrotlet

These little chicks are practically blind and deaf when they’re born, but you can certainly hear them asking for food. When hatched, they are just the size of a bumble bee but they certainly have a huge appetite. Some behavioral scientists believe that parrotlets actually have the IQ of a four-year-old child.

Racoon

Racoon cubs are usually born in early summer. For the first 2 months of their lives, they will live in a den which their mother will make for them before they’re born. When they turn 12 weeks old, they start roaming without their mother but they become fully independent when they reach the age of 8 months.

The little cubs will eat just about anything, fruit, plants, nuts, berries, insects, rodents, frogs, and eggs, so it’s not surprising that people find racoons going through their garbage in search for food.

Turtle

Mother turtle can travel up to 12,000 km to lay the eggs on the same beach where she was hatched, but she will not nurture her little baby turtles. They will have to manage themselves. Sadly, most of the cute hatchling will be eaten in the first few minutes of their lives, but if they manage to get to the water, chances of surviving will increase dramatically.

Whether they will be females or males depend on the temperature of the sand at the days before the hatching. If the temperature of the sand is higher, there will be more female turtles.

Hedgehog

This little hoglet is born with poor eyesight, but it can have an excellent sense of smell and hearing to compensate for that. When they search for food, these little creatures are usually moving through the hedges making funny piggy grunting sounds. In case you were wondering how the hedgehogs got their name, there’s your answer.

Lion

For the first 6 weeks of their lives, little lion cubs are well hidden from the pack and the world. That’s because they weigh only 1.5 kg when they’re born, which makes them completely dependent on their mother, and an easy target for predators. Regardless of the fact that older lions spend 16-20 hours sleeping, the young ones will be playful and full of energy all the time. Through the play, they will learn how to hunt and survive in the cruel nature. Once they grow up, they will try to save that energy for finding food, which is why they will appear lazy all the time.

Koala

Baby koalas are also called joeys. As soon as a joey is born, it will climb into his mother’s pouch. At first, the little fella is completely blind and deaf so it’s totally dependent on its mother to survive. Little joey stays inside the pouch for 6 months, after which it will cling onto its mother’s back and stay there for 6 more months.

Seal

For almost a month, seal pups stay on the ground and wait until their waterproof fur grows. Usually, the pups stay in little holes called nests in the sand.

When the pups eventually get in the water, they will develop the ability to sleep under it. They will be able to slow their heartbeats in order to conserve oxygen, which will help them hold their breath underwater for as long as two hours.

Tapir

The tapir calf can stand up only a few hours after the birth. Calves can weigh 7-10 kg, but it is the mother who will decide when to stop feeding her little baby. Babies look nothing like the adults. They are born with vivid spots or zebra stripes to help them camouflage themselves in order to survive in the wilderness.

Tapir’s feces actually helps forests grow, because they dispose of everything that they cannot digest, and that includes lots of seeds.

Rabbit

Rabbits reproduce often as only 15% of baby bunnies survive their first year. A baby bunny is called kitten or kit. After they are born, mother bunny will take care of her babies for around 4-5 weeks, after which, they will be left to take care of themselves.

They need plenty of toys and company because they can be easily bored.

If you ever decide to keep a little kit, don’t bring them near water, because water terrifies them. They are pretty clean animals, so they don’t need baths anyway.

Fox

Baby foxes, called cubs, pups, or kits, are born in a chamber inside a nest that their mother will make before they are born. Pups care is a family affair, which means that both parents will take care of the pups equally, and in some cases, other foxes of the pack as well.

Crocodile

Baby crocodiles will need between 55 and 110 days to hatch from the egg. When born, these little creatures can be 18-25 cm long, and it will take them between 4 and 15 years until they would be considered as adult crocodiles. Unfortunately, 99% of them will be eaten in the first year, and in many cases, the predators are actually other crocodiles. Thais per cent puts these babies among endangered species.

Parakeet

Baby parakeet is born with a thin layer of wispy feathers called down, which will be replaced with adult feathers in the first 3 weeks of its life. These little babies will also be blind for 2 weeks, so they will be dependent on their parents in order to survive. After they turn 3 weeks old, they will be playful little birds who enjoy playing in the water.

Beaver

Little baby beaver, or kit, weighs only 230-630 grams when it’s born. American beavers wean after only 2 weeks. Other species of beavers, take 6 weeks before they wean.

The little kit doesn’t know this, but there is a chemical compound under its tail that is an FDA-approved natural flavoring that can be used in the food industry as vanilla scent.

Polar Bear

Almost all white cubs have their birthdays in November or December. After they are born, the cubs will be put in a maternity den, which is actually a cave that mother bear digs in the snow. The cubs are pretty small when they are born, considering the size they will grow to, but as little babies, they will weigh only 500 grams.

These little balls of fur will grow up with a super sense of smell, which will be so powerful that they will be able to smell a seal that is 32 km away.

Mixtecan Alligator Lizard

Most baby lizards are self-sufficient from birth and are able to walk, run and even feed themselves. But this is not a surprise considering the fact that pet lizards, and especially Mixtecan alligator lizard, are highly endangered species. If they survive, the baby lizard can reach maturity somewhere between 1.5 up to 7 years, depend on the species.

Zebra

The black and white foals, which is the name of baby zebras, can weigh between 25 and 40kg. Within only a few hours of birth, the little foal can run fast with the herd, which is not a surprise if you know that their natural predator is a lion.

sheep

Despite the fact that lambs can walk just minutes after birth, they will be dependent on their mothers until they turn 6 months old. Baby lambs are extremely friendly and social, and they usually have BFF. These little cuties are very smart, so if they become ill they will find a plant that can cure them and eat it as a medicine.

Chameleon

Chameleon baby will be fully adult after a year, with all the superpowers inherited from its parents, like changing colors and being able to look in two directions at once with the 360-degree arc of vision.

Dog

Everyone’s favorite pet, puppies are heart-meltingly cute. That is why the name puppy is probably originated from the French word poupee which means a doll or a toy.

Because they aren’t born fully developed, they are blind and deaf for a short period of time, and just like human babies, little puppies will first have their ‘milk teeth’ which will last for 12-16 weeks, and then get the permanent ones. Like most human babies, they love to have naps which is crucial for their development.